diff --git a/src/Handler/CloudWatch.php b/src/Handler/CloudWatch.php
index 26a1271..59e79ea 100755
--- a/src/Handler/CloudWatch.php
+++ b/src/Handler/CloudWatch.php
@@ -54,11 +54,6 @@ class CloudWatch extends AbstractProcessingHandler
      */
     private $initialized = false;
 
-    /**
-     * @var string
-     */
-    private $sequenceToken;
-
     /**
      * @var int
      */
@@ -79,6 +74,11 @@ class CloudWatch extends AbstractProcessingHandler
      */
     private $createGroup;
 
+    /**
+     * @var bool
+     */
+    private $createStream;
+
     /**
      * Data amount limit (http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatchLogs/latest/APIReference/API_PutLogEvents.html)
      *
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ class CloudWatch extends AbstractProcessingHandler
      * @param int $level
      * @param bool $bubble
      * @param bool $createGroup
+     * @param bool $createStream
      *
      * @throws \Exception
      */
@@ -139,7 +140,8 @@ public function __construct(
         array $tags = [],
         $level = Logger::DEBUG,
         $bubble = true,
-        $createGroup = true
+        $createGroup = true,
+        $createStream = true,
     ) {
         if ($batchSize > 10000) {
             throw new \InvalidArgumentException('Batch size can not be greater than 10000');
@@ -152,6 +154,7 @@ public function __construct(
         $this->batchSize = $batchSize;
         $this->tags = $tags;
         $this->createGroup = $createGroup;
+        $this->createStream = $createStream;
 
         parent::__construct($level, $bubble);
 
@@ -201,11 +204,10 @@ private function flushBuffer(): void
                 $this->initialize();
             }
 
-            // send items, retry once with a fresh sequence token
+            // send items, retry once if failed
             try {
                 $this->send($this->buffer);
             } catch (\Aws\CloudWatchLogs\Exception\CloudWatchLogsException $e) {
-                $this->refreshSequenceToken();
                 $this->send($this->buffer);
             }
 
@@ -309,8 +311,7 @@ private function formatRecords(array $entry): array
      *
      * @param array $entries
      *
-     * @throws \Aws\CloudWatchLogs\Exception\CloudWatchLogsException Thrown by putLogEvents for example in case of an
-     *                                                               invalid sequence token
+     * @throws \Aws\CloudWatchLogs\Exception\CloudWatchLogsException Thrown by putLogEvents for example
      */
     private function send(array $entries): void
     {
@@ -331,15 +332,9 @@ private function send(array $entries): void
             'logEvents' => $entries
         ];
 
-        if (!empty($this->sequenceToken)) {
-            $data['sequenceToken'] = $this->sequenceToken;
-        }
-
         $this->checkThrottle();
 
         $response = $this->client->putLogEvents($data);
-
-        $this->sequenceToken = $response->get('nextSequenceToken');
     }
 
     private function initializeGroup(): void
@@ -389,11 +384,13 @@ private function initialize(): void
         if ($this->createGroup) {
             $this->initializeGroup();
         }
-
-        $this->refreshSequenceToken();
+        if($this->createStream) {
+            $this->initializeStream();
+        }
+        $this->initialized = true;
     }
 
-    private function refreshSequenceToken(): void
+    private function initializeStream(): void
     {
         // fetch existing streams
         $existingStreams =
@@ -409,12 +406,6 @@ private function refreshSequenceToken(): void
         // extract existing streams names
         $existingStreamsNames = array_map(
             function ($stream) {
-
-                // set sequence token
-                if ($stream['logStreamName'] === $this->stream && isset($stream['uploadSequenceToken'])) {
-                    $this->sequenceToken = $stream['uploadSequenceToken'];
-                }
-
                 return $stream['logStreamName'];
             },
             $existingStreams
@@ -431,8 +422,6 @@ function ($stream) {
                     ]
                 );
         }
-
-        $this->initialized = true;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Handler/CloudWatchTest.php b/tests/Handler/CloudWatchTest.php
index 985241f..3ab30b7 100644
--- a/tests/Handler/CloudWatchTest.php
+++ b/tests/Handler/CloudWatchTest.php
@@ -93,6 +93,31 @@ public function testInitializeWithCreateGroupDisabled()
         $reflectionMethod->invoke($handler);
     }
 
+    public function testInitializeWithCreateStreamDisabled()
+    {
+        $this
+            ->clientMock
+            ->expects($this->never())
+            ->method('describeLogGroups');
+
+        $this
+            ->clientMock
+            ->expects($this->never())
+            ->method('createLogGroup');
+
+        $this
+            ->clientMock
+            ->expects($this->never())
+            ->method('describeLogStreams');
+
+        $handler = new CloudWatch($this->clientMock, $this->groupName, $this->streamName, 14, 10000, [], Logger::DEBUG, true, false, false);
+
+        $reflection = new \ReflectionClass($handler);
+        $reflectionMethod = $reflection->getMethod('initialize');
+        $reflectionMethod->setAccessible(true);
+        $reflectionMethod->invoke($handler);
+    }
+
     public function testInitializeWithExistingLogGroup()
     {
         $logGroupsResult = new Result(['logGroups' => [['logGroupName' => $this->groupName]]]);
@@ -450,34 +475,34 @@ public function testSendsBatchesSpanning24HoursOrLess()
 
         $this
             ->clientMock
-                ->expects($this->exactly(3))
-                ->method('PutLogEvents')
-                ->willReturnCallback(function (array $data) {
-                    /** @var int|null */
-                    $earliestTime = null;
+            ->expects($this->exactly(3))
+            ->method('PutLogEvents')
+            ->willReturnCallback(function (array $data) {
+                /** @var int|null */
+                $earliestTime = null;
 
-                    /** @var int|null */
-                    $latestTime = null;
+                /** @var int|null */
+                $latestTime = null;
 
-                    foreach ($data['logEvents'] as $logEvent) {
-                        $logTimestamp = $logEvent['timestamp'];
+                foreach ($data['logEvents'] as $logEvent) {
+                    $logTimestamp = $logEvent['timestamp'];
 
-                        if (!$earliestTime || $logTimestamp < $earliestTime) {
-                            $earliestTime = $logTimestamp;
-                        }
+                    if (!$earliestTime || $logTimestamp < $earliestTime) {
+                        $earliestTime = $logTimestamp;
+                    }
 
-                        if (!$latestTime || $logTimestamp > $latestTime) {
-                            $latestTime = $logTimestamp;
-                        }
+                    if (!$latestTime || $logTimestamp > $latestTime) {
+                        $latestTime = $logTimestamp;
                     }
+                }
 
-                    $this->assertNotNull($earliestTime);
-                    $this->assertNotNull($latestTime);
-                    $this->assertGreaterThanOrEqual($earliestTime, $latestTime);
-                    $this->assertLessThanOrEqual(24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, $latestTime - $earliestTime);
+                $this->assertNotNull($earliestTime);
+                $this->assertNotNull($latestTime);
+                $this->assertGreaterThanOrEqual($earliestTime, $latestTime);
+                $this->assertLessThanOrEqual(24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, $latestTime - $earliestTime);
 
-                    return $this->awsResultMock;
-                });
+                return $this->awsResultMock;
+            });
 
         $handler = $this->getCUT();